


Zebes High

by PuncturedButterfly



Category: Super Smash Brothers
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-23
Updated: 2016-04-29
Packaged: 2018-05-28 15:45:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6334831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PuncturedButterfly/pseuds/PuncturedButterfly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zebes High — a place where young students strive to achieve the wisdom and preparation needed to conquer the world. ... But that's easier said than done; especially if you get distracted by friends, parties, life, and love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Teaser

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [A/N:] Something different this time; instead of bloody babes, this time around you get a fluffy highschool AU in the Super Smash Bros.
> 
> Disclaimer: All games and their various characters featured are not mine.

A boot crashed into the moist grass, sending raindrops jumping, the spikes on the soles digging into the soil and grasping at the mud. The force behind it never relented, only urging on, ever fighting. And the body shoved itself forward with a strength and determination that would have left most others breathless.

It didn’t even duck to the side to avoid the human obstacle appearing before it, but instead shouldered it out of the way with unparalleled precision. A sharp exhale accompanied the hard tackle that quickly morphed into a cloud of white fog before dispersing through the greenish face mask bars of a carmine red helmet.  
The sounds from a cheering crowd were muffled, almost entirely drowned out and for a long second, there was nothing but the satisfying thump of a body crashing to the ground as another boot was planted into the dirt.

The player clad in an orange uniform tightly held onto the pigskin secured beneath a muscular arm in a glove with a metallic green hue. The crowd roared as a multitude of opponents threw themselves at Zebes’ rising star, hands trying to get a grip on the football.

But Samus Aran plowed through them like a bulldozer.

The quarterback tackled another guy away and kept running straight across the field, powerful legs catapulting her right into the end zone. A fist was pumped up through the thick curtain of rain, again and again, in rhythm with the chanting of the fans jumping from their seats.

A shout from the commentator echoed from the booth, “ _Touchdown! Touchdown!_ ”

The Zebesians gathered in an excited rush, all clutching to the captain, the one who undoubtedly brought them to victory once more, and the air vibrated with a chorus of cheers and the well-known slogan of the school’s team.

“ _Zebes KILL!! Zebes KILL!!_ ”

Samus, star player of Zebes Highschool, accepted the praise with a satisfied smirk beneath her helmet, smacks and pats from her teammates thundering on the hard plastic shell that made her ears ring in an all too familiar manner.

The game was over. _Over and won._ The commentator positively lost it when the timer ticked down to zero and he announced the Zebesian Hunters as the winners. Samus took off her helmet and wiped a hand over her face, the cool rain on her skin very welcome.  
“Damn, Samus! You were _on fire_ today!” She turned and was nearly blinded by the shit-eating grin on Anthony’s face. She patted him on the shoulder, “Nice pass.” He nodded enthusiastically and accepted the praise from his captain. “Course, dude! We won us this one!”

It was really just another win for the team, not even in a competitive game but a friendly match between Zebes High and the neighboring Tallon High. Of course the Hunters would win. The Tallon Strikers had never been that much of a challenge and were hardly worth the exertion. That didn’t mean that they were disrespected by the team though — quite the opposite, since many players from both schools were friends — but they simply were no match for the infamous Zebesian Hunters.

Samus exchanged a few courteous words with the Tallon’s captain and then the team was dismissed into the showers. They were all completely soaked through and with the adrenaline subsiding, the cold from the weather outside became apparent.  
She tugged her uniform, all murky orange, from her body and quickly disappeared into the girl’s changing room before hopping under the deserted shower. She privately smirked to herself; one of the benefits of being the only girl contributing to a predominately male sport.

Granted, the faucets were crap, but the hot water did its job and eased the strain on her muscles. It was a wholly welcome end to the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [A/N:] So much for the teaser. If you’re interested, stay tuned! I plan to upload some more content later this week.
> 
> Don’t forget to review ;-)


	2. Crash

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [A/N:] Welcome back, my precious readers!
> 
> On the menu today: Some more input to what I presume is just another SSB Highschool AU that nobody needs… :-P

A mighty sigh echoed through the hallway and would have probably raised a few questions from the students nearby, had they not been so preoccupied with themselves and the very urgent copying of notes before classes would start in approximately three and a half minutes.

So Zelda was left to her own devices until she reached her locker. A weary smile lit up her features as she spotted her best friend and partner in crime, Peach, leaning against her own locker just next to hers. The quirky girl cracked a grin and nearly sent them both careening to the floor as she went in for a hug, “Zelda! You’re late, where have you been?!”  
She squeezed the brunette’s shoulder, “For a moment here I thought you might have gotten kidnapped and sold into slavery.” Zelda chuckled at the exaggeration, “I don’t believe it’s possible to get kidnapped on the way from the dorms over here.”

But Peach tutted and leaned in conspiringly, “You never know.” She winked and made off with her grin back in place, “I gotta go! See you at lunch!” Zelda waved after her and turned to retrieve her books from her locker. The worn pictures on the inside of the door fluttered merrily.

There was a shout from down the hallway that grabbed her attention and she turned just in time to witness the champs of the school strutting down the corridor. The other students made way and fell into chanting, “ _Zebes KILL!!_ ”, as Zelda pressed herself against the lockers to stay out of their way. It wasn’t the entirety of the football team but a few of the boys, led by Anthony.  
He was talking excitedly, “And then I threw the ball right into her arms and she barreled her way straight down the middle.” Beside him, Lyle raised his hands to his mouth, “Choo-choo!” They passed by her without an incident and Zelda released a breath.

She hadn’t been present at the game yesterday, but heard from friends that it had been a curb stomp. Samus, the quarterback and leader of the team, had pretty much single-handedly won the match and ended it with a touchdown, earning them another six points advantage. She chewed on her lip; she wasn’t a fan of football per se — though it was quite entertaining sometimes to watch two teams tackling the living crap out of each other — but it was pretty much revered as a royal sport or something by so many people.  
Plus, Peach was part of the cheerleaders which made Zelda a supporter by implication anyways. It was also strangely inspiring to know that the single best player on the team was, in fact, a girl and not a boy. She shook her head, _Not one of those ripped, one-track-minded jocks who think they can do whatever they want and the world bows to their every whim. Well, most of them think so anyways. A few of them are actually okay, according to Peach…_

With the school bell signaling the start of classes, Zelda slapped her locker closed and was off to find her classroom. It didn’t take long for Peach to start bombarding her with text messages, complaining that “ _history is so boooooring pls make it stop :(_ “ and that she could be working on the new choreography for the cheerleader team.  
Zelda suppressed a sympathetic sigh in favor of not arousing the attention of her teacher and replied with a quick “ _you got this, peach! hang in there :)_ “ instead. She added a picture of a cute kitten from her gallery, for good measure. It was promptly answered, “ _:) you know how to make a girl smile._ ”

The day continued like this; with a whining Peach and cute, furry animal pictures from Zelda to counter her friend’s boredom. They eventually met up for lunch in the cafeteria. Peach managed to line-jump so she was standing next to Zelda while they waited for their turn.  
She winked at the two guys who just let her go first. Zelda smirked; either you belonged to the football team to be first in line, or you be one of their cheerleaders. It was always the same procedure, and high school hierarchy has never been different in the last three-hundred years or so.

After they got their serving, Zelda scanned the cafeteria. The different groups of students had their regular spots and while Peach had the luxury of choosing whether she wanted to sit with her cheerleader team or her friends (read: Zelda and the others), the brunette herself could only ever rely on the quirky science geek named Link.  
The blonde boy, a brilliant one who sometimes seemed to suffer from ADHD, was already joyfully waving at her from their usual spot. She smiled at him and followed Peach back to their table. Link jumped from his seat in a greeting, “Hi Zelda!”

She nodded to him, “Hey Link.” Peach playfully rolled her eyes at him behind his back; the huge crush he had on Zelda was visible from space. She didn’t comment on how he, rudely but unintentionally, apparently forgot to greet her — or that she existed in the first place. Link took the seat across from Zelda, with Peach sitting at the head of the small table. She would often tease her best friend about how cute they would be together, and Zelda was honestly considering dating him. He was a sweet guy after all, and he cared about her.

Link was animatedly talking to the brunette about this uber-cool chlorine dioxide experiment they did in their science class today. Zelda humored him because, _Boys and their toys,_ but her attention was actually drawn towards the football team’s table across the cafeteria.  
The team was currently engaged in enthusiastic retells of the match the day before and, also typical, the cheerleaders were all over them. Many of them were girlfriends to the famous boys, and all of them basked in the glory of their success.

Sometimes, Zelda wondered what it would be like to be one of the cool kids. Like, one of the _really_ cool kids. She bit her lip as her eyes wandered over to Samus who was sitting there just eating her lunch, _Maybe even as cool as…_ But the thought was lost on her the second it emerged and she was once more back with Link and his fire-spitting custom robots.  
Peach gasped at something he said — presumably about razor blades tearing his friend’s robot apart — and Zelda indulged in her lunch while giving input whenever it was required of her. She’s never been an extrovert and her friends understood that, and maybe that was why she didn’t belong to the famous students. Because Peach constantly told her that she was actually super pretty and could very well make it on the cheerleader team if she wanted to. _Oh well, my self-confidence isn’t on that level yet._

Lunch was over much quicker than anticipated and all three of them parted ways for their last few classes before the day could officially begin.

 

* * *

 

The sun was glaring down at the city and the asphalt looked like it would melt any second. Samus heaved an annoyed grunt at the unpredictable weather and shielded her eyes as she drove down the street on her motorcycle.

The remnants of yesterday’s cloudburst had entirely dissipated in the tropical heat which had promptly led Samus to leave her jacket hanging in the locker at school. She squinted through her fingers as she pulled over and walked up to the house on the side of the street.  
An elderly woman greeted her on the door and she looked a bit confused for half a second before realization dawned on her face. “Hi ma’am. My name is Samus Aran and I’m working for _the Running Mile._ I have a delivery for…” she turned the package in her arms around and read the name of the consignee, “…Mrs. Miller?”

“Yes, yes, that would be me! Thank you so much, dear.” She accepted the small packet with a kind smile and gave her digital signature, “Can I get you a glass of water maybe? It’s so hot outside today.” Samus managed a smile in return but raised her hands in a declining gesture, “No, thank you. I need to be on my way.” Mrs. Miller nodded, “Take care then.”  
She walked back to her motorcycle, the word _GUNSHIP_ lovingly written in bold letters across its bright yellow body kit, and made her way back. The latest delivery had been the last one for her today and she was mercifully released from her duty as courier. Samus drove a hand through blonde tresses, feeling the summer breeze on her bare arms and through her hair.

The city was nearly deserted at these temperatures, most of the people had probably taken out their swimwear and sun lotion and made off to the beach. Samus took a left turn and grunted angrily at a driver who apparently paid more attention to his phone than the street.  
She threw him a glare when he finally acknowledged the nearly-driven over highschool student and made a blank face. She shook her head, _Moron,_ and looked ahead of her—

_—but suddenly there was another car._

Her breath got stuck in her throat as she saw the van rapidly approaching from her right, the man behind the steering wheel too busy arguing with his co-driver to notice her. The young man beside him jerked around, hand flying out and mouth agape as all three of them watched — watched as Samus crashed into the flank of the van.  
The man hit the brakes and the axle screeched out under a kind of pressure it was definitely not used to. Samus, all wide eyes and clear shock on her face, tried jumping off the motorcycle before impact, but the centrifugal force pulled her along. She smashed into the car, her bones giving a sickening crack and she screamed before falling down again. Pain flared up in her leg, and she bounced off of the white surface of the vehicle before her.

There were shouts, faces appeared around her blurry vision but all she could concentrate on was the hot asphalt pressing into her cheek and _her leg,_ and Samus struggled to keep conscious. The van, formerly white and unremarkable, was now decorated with a huge dent. Luckily no blood. Her eyes flickered, taking in the state of her motorcycle, and she groaned.  
Hands were grabbing at her and then there was a break in which she couldn’t remember what happened, but then flashing lights and blaring sirens filtered into her consciousness before everything finally went dark.

 

* * *

 

The news spread like a wildfire. Come morning after the accident, the entire school was informed that Samus Aran had been hit by a car the day before. The mood was accordingly; Anthony had so far been the only one allowed to see her in the hospital and he seemed grim, obviously.

Zelda, Peach, and Impa were currently sitting outside on campus, under the shady trees leading to the nearby park. Link had reluctantly excused himself after one of his buddies had urgently called him. Peach whispered ominously, “I heard she needs a wheelchair now. Can you believe that?” She looked genuinely worried, but Impa just sighed.  
“Please. I talked to Anthony earlier. He says she’s pretty much okay and will be back tomorrow if she herself feels fine.” She slurped her smoothie, “Apparently she was really lucky the other guy wasn’t driving with eighty mph over it. But he’s sure as hell getting sued by her uncle though.”

Peach grimaced, “Yea sure, but how can he be so certain? He’s no physician.” Impa, a senior and classmate of Samus and Anthony, just rolled her eyes. “Peach, he has that info _from_ the doctors. They said she’ll be fine. It’s just a minor concussion and as long as she doesn’t see everything threefold then all’s well.”  
Zelda observed her friends argue about the validity of Anthony’s claims while taking a sip from her juice box. She hadn’t heard anything from her classmates, so Peach and Impa were the best sources of information she was going to get for that matter.

She was a little surprised over her own thoughts; why was she so curious anyways? It wasn’t as if she had any kind of personal interest in Samus’ wellbeing. Zelda internally smiled to herself, _Guess that’s just how I am… Caring about people I don’t even know._

It was only in her last class when Peach virtually nudged her friend with a quick text that Zelda’s thoughts returned to Samus and the accident. She checked her phone, seeing the message from the blonde, “ _are you coming to the stadium tomorrow? impa said samus would come to school again and shell probs be there._ ”  
Zelda felt her attention grabbed; there was another football match scheduled for tomorrow. The accident was obviously nothing anyone had foreseen and Zelda wondered what the team was going to do. She doubted Samus would be allowed to play football for a while and it somewhat saddened her; she knew it sucked not being able to do what you loved.

The rest of the day went by quite unspectacularly. Zelda and Peach had met up after classes and soon went back to the dorms. Peach shared a room with Impa, both being seniors, while Zelda shared hers with a girl named Lydia. She was mostly never present in their quarters though so Zelda hadn’t really bothered to become friends with her.  
She felt a bit bad about it, but Impa always told her you couldn’t be friends with everyone. Impa herself was the best example of that lifestyle; she didn’t have many friends because she tended to be, well, grumpy, but the few she kept close were those she could always count on.

They enjoyed a few hours of respite and watched trashy TV in Peach and Impa’s room — having been able to do so because Impa apparently had something better to do, which ground on Peach a bit — before Zelda made her way back to her own dorm.

She was halfway over the campus when she noticed a purple motorcycle pulling up towards the parking lot nearby. The engine was purring lowly, the headlight throwing a bright cone of light on the asphalt. She stopped and looked over, curious as to who was still out and about this late in the evening. Goosebumps rising up on her arms, her eyes widened when she recognized none other than Samus Aran herself shutting off the engine and making her way over to what would very likely be her dorm.

Zelda swallowed; despite Peach’s message earlier she hadn’t expected Samus to return quite so quickly — considering she just got out of a car crash the other day. She watched, suddenly self-conscious, as Samus straightened her ponytail and walked a rather brisk pace.  
Other than that, she couldn’t see anything different about the blonde footballer. She was still in once piece, that leather jacket was the one she usually wore, and there was most certainly no wheelchair involved. Zelda bit her lip and waited with bated breath until Samus was gone. Then, she quietly went back to her own dorm, contemplating what she just witnessed. Thoughts racing, she wondered if the star quarterback would be on the field tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [A/N:] I hope you enjoyed reading. Feel free to express your opinions, expectations, hatred, and whatnot in a review for me to shift through! I always look forward to feedback :-)
> 
> Did I ever mention that I (unlike about a million other people) hate the way an author can add notes to the end or beginning of a chapter? This bollocks doesn't work the way I want it to work :-| That. Just wanted to get it out there.


	3. Lessons to learn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [A/N:] The guessing game’s over — bask in the revelation of the outcome of Samus Aran’s less than glorious encounter with the infamous Dented Truck! :')
> 
> Bonus points for all who guessed correctly.

“ _Welcome, welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Zebes High stadium! My name is Joe and it’s a wonderful day for some wonderful football!_ ”

The commentator’s voice blurted out of the speakers around the stadium and Peach squealed as she dragged Zelda and Impa with her. Obviously, she led them exactly to the front row of seats on the southern side, the best vantage spot in general.  
The sun stood in their backs, so they didn’t need sunglasses like the people sitting across from them. Zelda felt conscious as she passed by a bunch of die-hard fans of the school’s famous team who blinked at the girls owlishly. Impa only rolled her eyes, telling Peach to slow it down.

The three of them sat, fully equipped with soda and hotdogs, and waited for the game to begin. Peach practically threw herself into Zelda’s lap, “I am _so_ glad you decided to come too! It’s gonna be fun, I promise!” The brunette patted her friend’s head a few times and smiled at her. Sometimes, Peach’s over-zealousness was so disturbing that it was cute actually.  
She stood and cupped her hands over her mouth and Impa was already bracing herself for the earful they were going to get. “ _Show ’em how it’s done, girls!!_ ” Peach screamed to her cheerleader team down on the grass and they promptly broke out some sick moves. Satisfied, she sat down next to Zelda again and crossed her arms over her chest, a smug grin on her face, “We’re gonna stomp them.”

There wasn’t really any doubt about that, considering the Zebesians didn’t have any serious rival teams around. The stadium roared and hollered when finally both teams entered the playfield. Peach jumped up, screaming her undying loyalty out to the players.  
There were Anthony, James, and Lyle, followed by K.G., and Maurice. The boys did their shenanigans with the cheerleaders, lifting them up and squeezing them, and jogging a few meters to get their system going. It was a spirited atmosphere.

But, of course, the most important question was whether or not Samus Aran would play today. Zelda nibbled on her hotdog, recalling the tense minutes spent behind a bush at a time that was most certainly past curfew last night. Samus had not seemed impeded at all, but then again it had been pretty dark. She unconsciously bit her lip.

The Zebesian Hunters trotted one after the other, all with their hands raised and accepting praise from all sides of the stadium. A knot of unexpected tension formed in Zelda’s gut and she ever so slightly lent forward to try and get a better look.

And then—

Her eyes widened when she spotted the unmistakable red helmet of Zebes’ champion. In fact, Samus was actually wearing her full uniform and jogged out into the field. Impa beside her hummed thoughtfully but didn’t comment on the scene before them. They both silently agreed to zone out Peach who practically fainted from shock, flailing.  
Anthony came up to Samus’ side and said something to her before they approached the other team and the two captains shook hands. The people in the stadium were positively screaming for Samus as they chanted her name and it was oddly akin to the acolytes singing prayers in the church.

Zelda was curious whether Samus would be able to play, considering everyone had assumed she was bound to a wheelchair or worse. But the common worry dissipated as she scrambled forward after receiving the pigskin and shoved herself past two players of the opposite team without any effort. Zelda watched with baited breath but she didn’t fall, she didn’t stumble, she didn’t waver.

The inevitable fall came close to the end of the game though. There was a collective gasp rousing the crowd as Samus Aran, star player of the beloved Zebesian Hunters, lost her footing and crashed into the grass headfirst, the egg wobbling its way out of her grasp.  
People stood from their seats and Zelda let her gaze wander around the stadium, taking in various expressions of horror and utter shock. Even the players seemed to stutter for a moment before someone picked up the ball and ended that play with a turnover.

Anthony was the first one at Samus’ side. She rolled to lie on her back, right foot awkwardly stretched out into the air as to not let it touch the ground which would have probably result in pain. The first aiders were there in a blink, stabilizing her leg and carrying her off the field. The coaches were heatedly discussing as Mr. Lemming called a stop.  
Impa clicked her tongue, “You know. That she would be fine overall doesn’t really mean she’s fit to hit the field right after stepping out of the hospital.” She shrugged as Zelda only pursed her lips, “Can’t say I’m surprised.”

The game was cancelled afterwards.

The crowd was still distraught and the commotion was quickly herded out of the stadium by campus security. Peach refused to leave though, and pulled Zelda along with her to the cheerleader team still below on the grass. Impa had waved her hands and taken off with her soda, leaving the two to their own devices.  
Peach was pale as a ghost, “Did you see that, Zelda? Oh god, I hope she’ll be fine… I have never seen something so horrible before! How could this even…” She continued talking, but Zelda’s attention was somewhere else already.

She spotted Falco at the entrance into the stadium where they had brought Samus to. He stood there with his arms crossed, a stern expression on his face, and scared anyone who tried to enter away with his impressive glower.  
Zelda gently pried Peach’s hand from her wrist and watched her take off towards her cheerleaders without throwing a look back. She smiled crookedly at her friend’s thirst for information and went over to Falco.

He saw her, and his expression didn’t change, “Hi.” Zelda nodded, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious. She knew Falco could be intimidating but he was actually a good guy. They worked together sometimes as TAs in the nurse’s office which was why she was one of the few people who didn’t flinch whenever Falco turned his attention on them.  
“Hi, Falco.” Zelda glanced towards the hallway behind him, “That was a terrible spill. Did Samus say anything?” He shook his head with a grunt, “No. She just stared ahead with a face of stone.” He shrugged, “Exactly how I suspected she would.”

Zelda actually chuckled as she pictured Samus frowning at her leg like it had somehow offended her. She wrenched her hands behind her back, wondering why she was kind of nervous all of a sudden, “Is there anything I can do?”

Falco glanced at her after driving away two concerned fans. He seemed to contemplate for a moment before saying, “Well, Ms. Balder wanted me to help her checking up on Samus, but someone needs to stand guard here and make sure the crazed fans don’t get inside,” he gestured at the entrance behind him. “I doubt someone as tiny as you could scare the very devoted away, so I guess I’ll have to stay here.”  
Zelda knew where this was going, and the thought of actually assisting Ms. Balder in taking care of Samus was a little dizzying for her. “Maybe you go ahead and help Ms. Balder with everything.”

Zelda felt something drop in her stomach but she quickly put on a small smile and lightly punched Falco on the arm. He didn’t even budge. “Alright, that’s something a tiny person like me can manage.” He smiled at her and nodded encouragingly.

Then he let her pass and Zelda allowed herself a giggle when she heard the protests from a bunch of other kids wanting to see how Samus was doing. Falco handled them expertly.

 

* * *

 

The hallway was familiar to her. Peach had taken her here more times than she could count whenever the blonde wanted to have Zelda watch her at cheerleader practice with the other girls. It led straight to the outside of the stadium, but there was a door inside that directed Zelda to a few empty offices.

She passed by the janitor who looked quite distressed — no doubt _being_ under distress at the current moment — and soon after reached the nurse’s office. She stood before it for a moment, gathering her thoughts.  
Zelda exhaled, she was anxious and she had no idea why. Her situation sunk in and it was certainly something to be remembered, but it didn’t seem so terrifying that her hands should have shaken like they did.

She balled a fist and knocked quietly on the door and entered when she was told to do so. Her heart started beating faster which each inch she opened and when her gaze landed upon Samus Aran half sitting, half lying on the bed across the room, her breath caught.

Crystal blue eyes were staring back at her.

Zelda could feel the tips of her ears burning and she quickly scanned the room for Ms. Balder, who was just turning around to greet her with a smile, “Zelda, good to see you!” She approached her, thankfully giving Zelda an excuse to look at anything else but _those eyes._  
Ms. Balder beckoned her into the room with a hand on her shoulder, “I’m surprised to see you, actually. It’s Falco’s shift today.” Zelda nodded and tried hard not to stutter as she was ushered towards Samus still lying on the bed.

“Yes, I talked to him just before. I thought I could make myself useful.” Ms. Balder smiled widely at her, “Thanks, Zelda. That would actually be much appreciated.” She turned around, her long dark hair swinging after her in a waterfall of curls.  
“So, it seems Samus here has a sprained ankle,” she threw a pointed look over her glasses and to the quarterback, who in turn pointedly avoided eye contact, “and she didn’t tell anybody about it.”

Zelda hummed in understanding and chanced a quick look at Samus; she was still frowning. “I’ll get an ankle brace for her, would you…” she wiggled her finger at Samus and Zelda nodded a few times. Then she was gone, leaving the two girls alone in the room.  
There was a pause in which Zelda fidgeted uncomfortably around the bed. _Oh-kay, maybe I should start with introductions? Yes, that sounds like a decent idea…_ She managed a smile and held out her hand, “I’m Zelda, by the way.”

Samus just pulled up an eyebrow at her, “I know. And weren’t you gonna… do whatever?” She gestured at her leg much in the same manner that Ms. Balder did just moments ago. The gruff remark put a hot blush on Zelda’s cheeks and she stammered out a confirmation before sitting down on the stool next to the bed.  
She raised her hands but stopped before actually touching Samus’ leg. She was so acutely aware of the blonde’s watchful gaze on her that she felt like trembling again. Zelda started, “I-I’m gonna have to…” and looked over to Samus — only to find her staring back intently.

The corners of her eyes crinkled and for a second Zelda didn’t know what to make of it, when Samus exhaled, then quipped, “I don’t bite.” She was so stunned that she couldn’t even manage to formulate a reply, so the first thing that came to mind was immediately spluttered out and didn’t sound at all like something Zelda would normally say.

“So you’re a vegetarian?” Samus seemed really taken aback by that answer. Her eyes widened and she blinked at Zelda owlishly. There was another beat and the brunette wished to disappear into the ground, _Really, Zelda? ‘You’re a vegetarian?’ Come on, that sounds like something Link might say!_

But, against all odds, Samus didn’t call for Ms. Balder to remove her from out of Zelda’s care, nor did she tell her off and flip her the bird. Instead, Samus came back with a similarly nerdy reply, “I like chicken.”

The awkward pause following after was expected, but what Zelda didn’t expect was for the pause to not be awkward at all. The two of them looked at each other before Samus placatingly gestured towards her leg, “Go ahead, it’s fine.”  
Zelda nodded, the coiled tension in her gut finally subsiding. She pulled Samus’ high sock down and off her foot and then pushed her pants upwards and over her knee. Samus tensed but didn’t say anything.

In just this moment, Ms. Balder came back into the office, a small box with an AirCast logo in her arm. She smiled warmly, “So, how’s it going?” Zelda carefully palpated Samus’ leg, “She’s tough as nails.” Both girls jumped a bit when the blonde hissed in pain and deadpanned, “Yea not really, I guess.” They shared a real smile this time and Zelda felt her insides lift. She took the time to examine Samus a bit closer.

Blonde bangs framed her face and she was remarkably pretty to be honest. There was a tiny beauty mark on the corner of her mouth that drew Zelda’s attention. She caught herself staring a bit longer than was probably appropriate and she colored slightly, but luckily for her, none of the other two noticed anything.  
Ms. Balder simply hummed in agreement and gave the brace over to Zelda, “I don’t need to tell you how to fasten that thing. You’re doing great, Zelda.” The brunette actually sunk a little into herself at the compliment because it was _in front of Samus,_ but accepted the praise with a timid “thanks.”

The woman quickly threw a glance at her wrist watch and then sighed ruefully, “Will you two be alright? I need to talk to Mr. Lemming, he asked me to stop by his office.” Samus beat Zelda to the punch, “Yes, no worries.”  
Ms. Balder beamed and gave the girls a thumbs up, “Awesome. Zelda will let you know how to handle the cast.” Then she grabbed her purse and left without further ado, briskly walking down the corridor so the click of her heels could be heard for a few more moments before fading out.

Zelda dutifully secured the cast, feeling rather bold, “Why didn’t you tell anyone about it? It’s a miracle you’re not wrapped up in bandages as it is, and not being able to walk for a few weeks is not a shame. Quite the opposite,” she chuckled then, “it’s a bit expected when someone’s in _your_ line of work.” Zelda looked up when Samus didn’t reply and found the blonde eyeing her oddly. Her fingers stopped doing whatever they had been doing and she suddenly held her breath.

For a moment, she thought Samus would only laugh in her face and tell her that she had not idea what she was even talking about. So it came as an even bigger surprise when Samus just shrugged and said, “I guess that’s right.” Zelda blinked once and watched, a little uncertain, as the star quarterback reclined back into the pillow and mumbled, “Still sucks.”

Zelda promptly broke out into a wide smile at the stubborn comment. _Maybe I’m ridiculous… but she’s actually so… normal._ Samus looked back at her and then averted her gaze somewhat uncomfortably. Zelda smothered a giggle with biting her lip.

After the brace was set in place and Samus stopped glowering at the offending piece of hard plastic, Zelda carefully helped her stand and adjust to the new sensation. She was about to fetch a crutch for her when Samus just shook her head and raised a hand, “No. I don’t need that.”  
Not fully convinced, she pursed her lips but in the end complied with the quarterback’s wishes. _Sure, she’s got too much pride for a crutch._ It _was_ understandable, if a little irresponsible. Samus was wobbling towards the door before she halted and turned around.

She looked straight at Zelda and once again, the brunette held her breath as those eyes found hers. Samus held out her hand, “I’m Samus, by the way.” Zelda was so struck at the gesture that she didn’t even notice the reversal of their roles in this exact moment.

She just went up to the blonde girl and shook her hand, warm palms touching, smiling, “I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [A/N:] Aw, how cute. I did my best staying in character for Samus, but sometimes I feel she’s hard to write. On the other hand; you can’t be stoic all the time, amirite? :-D


	4. Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [A/N:] I added more Anthony (and I will continue to do so in the future), because I actually adore the idea of Anthony. Not that he was necessary in Other M in any way… but the idea of him is adorable. Fight me on that one :-P

Anthony quickly caught up with her, his concerned face promptly inducing an eye-roll from her. He crossed his arms as he walked beside her. “Samus! How’re you doing? Is everything alright?” he asked, eyes roving over the cast on her shin and foot.  
Samus just raised a hand, “Relax, Anthony. I’m fine. Just got this neat thing here and I can already feel it helping.” Anthony just made a stern face at her, “Samus, you know this isn’t funny. You’re injured and making jokes about it isn’t cool at all.”

She gave in with a weary sigh, “You’re right, sorry.” She looked down at the cast, “Zelda said I’ll be up and about in six weeks.” Anthony didn’t respond immediately, instead he just pulled up an eyebrow, “Zelda?”  
Samus snapped up and motioned her hand in the air, “Yea, she’s— she’s Ms. Balder’s TA. Zelda…” she waved at her leg, “…helped me with this.” Anthony couldn’t help but stifle a laugh, “Ooh, I see. So she _put a cast on it,_ aye?”

Samus glared, “Very funny, Anthony.” He nudged her in the shoulder, “Sorry, sorry! I got it!” He swiped a finger across his nose and simultaneously erased the grin on his face, “So what’s gonna happen now?”  
Samus shrugged, “I don’t know. Ms. Balder went off to talk to the coach. I guess there’s my next stop.” Anthony eyed her cast warily, “Yes, if you manage to heave yourself up the stairs, that is.” She gave him a light shove, “I’m not a cripple.”

So, with a bit of adjusting, the two of them made it up the stairs and to the announcer’s office. Heated voices reached their ears and they stood in front of the door uncertainly. In the end, Samus just knocked and peeked around the corner.  
The coach of their famous football team, Mr. Lemming, stopped dead in his tracks from walking a line into the ground and turned to the quarterback. He motioned for Samus to come inside. She threw a quick look over to Anthony who nodded and turned to sit on the bench outside the office.

“Samus, we’re just discussing the procedures. Letting you play today likely wasn’t the best course of action.” His eyes fell to her leg and he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, “Cereza says you’ll be out of commission for a while.”  
Ms. Balder — _Cereza_ — pulled up an eyebrow and crossed her arms before her chest, “ _I_ would have never let you hit the field in the first place; not after a _car crash,_ no matter how close a shave you had.” She emphasized her words for maximum effect — resulting in Mr. Lemming actually looking ashamed of himself.

He squeezed her shoulder, “Sorry, Samus. I… was wrong about allowing you to play.” Ms. Balder seemed pacified enough at his quiet admission. She pushed herself off the desk she was leaning against and walked up to Samus.  
Her eyes were warm but stern, “Your well-being is much more important than the team’s image as being invincible. Bart knows that.” Mr. Lemming received a compassionate pat on the back from her. “That said, I’m ordering you to get some rest. No football for you until I deem you up for it. No other physical exertions unless they don’t worsen the injury.”

Samus nodded, not knowing what else to say. She had expected not to play any games — or, as Ms. Balder so unmistakenly said, participate in any sports — for a while. She resisted the urge to snort and thought back on the moment she so ungracefully fell into the grass, _Guess my own pride got in the way once again._  
“I talked to your coach about how we go about this,” Ms. Balder continued, “We agreed that it’d be best if you had some assistance in the following days.” Samus carefully schooled her expression at this, but the dark-haired nurse saw right through her.

“See it like a means to help you getting used to the situation. You’ll have fun with it for a few weeks now, after all. And, you _are_ the team’s star player. I see it’s in you and your coaches best interest to get you all fixed up as soon as possible.” Ms. Balder sounded too cheerful for Samus liking, _But I suspect it’s just to make sure I’ll be up and running again in six weeks._  
Samus nodded, “You said assistance?” Mr. Lemming agreed, “Yes. Someone to help you out. It’ll be temporary, only for the time being.” Ms. Balder’s eyes shone with an idea and she suddenly snapped her fingers, “How about Zelda?”

_Zelda…?_

Samus’ thoughts returned to the coy brunette she’d just met barely twenty minutes ago. While she contemplated, Ms. Balder seemed charmed with the idea, “She knows how to take care of any problems you might find yourself dealing with and she’s a nice girl. I’m sure you’ll be getting along well, I already saw it.”  
Samus didn’t quite know what to make of the nurse’s insistence in this, but her comment on already having seen how well they got along — _Does she think we’re friends?_ — managed to placate her reluctance.

Enough, in fact, to convince Samus of at least trying. So she nodded and Ms. Balder smiled broadly, “Great! Now, I’ll talk to Zelda about it, she’ll be happy to help out.” Mr. Lemming nodded fervently, “Sounds like a plan to me.”  
“I only ask of you, Samus, to do what she says when she deems it necessary to tell you what to do,” Ms. Balder further instructed and Samus understood the motherly expression on her face as simply wanting to help her get better and not wanting to make her heel to every one of Zelda’s commands.

_Guess following those instructions will be something I’d have to bear, considering this is a condition of me getting her help in the first place,_ she mused.

She left the office and started walking back to the stairs. Anthony stood up from where he was sat and joined her, looking at her with an inquiring gaze.

Samus heaved a sigh, “They benched me. I get an “assistant,” as Ms. Balder called it, for the next few days.” Anthony’s eyes widened and he promptly barked a hearty laugh, “What, so you’re getting a babysitter now?” She glared at him, but Anthony seemed resistant to it.  
“Geez, that sucks balls. But hey, can’t do much about it, right? It’s not like we didn’t expect as much.” He tried to sound reasonable, Samus knew that, and back in the hospital they did talk about what this would mean for the nigh future and their football team.

She looked at him, an almost painful twinkle in her eye, “Yea. The coach seemed beat. But, it’s not the end of the world. And, regarding my babysitter…” Samus gave a weary sigh, “At least it’ll be Zelda. Could be worse, I guess.”  
Anthony hummed thoughtfully, scratching his chin, “ _Zelda…_ I wonder…” Samus stared at him, “What?” He just chuckled and rubbed his hands together, “Gotta get some research in.” With that, he skipped past her and left with a grand wave, “I’ll catch ya later, invalid!”

_What’s up with him though…?_ Samus’ thoughts droned through her head as she watched him depart.

 

* * *

 

Zelda exhaled shakily, her nervousness finally subsiding, and she occupied herself with sorting some unpacked utensils into the correct drawers. She was still in the nurse’s office. Her thoughts flitted around the conversation she had had with Samus.

She bit her lip, _Wow. And here I thought I would never get noticed by anyone else but Link and Peach. And Impa I guess, but she’s so secluded she probably doesn’t count._ Zelda suppressed a squeal at her own silliness.  
_Well, I did come here to make myself useful… entirely aware of the fact that I could encounter Samus._ She felt herself blushing and shook her head because she was alone and therefore it was stupid. Maybe Peach was right, maybe she just needed to be a bit braver and a bit less anti-social.

_“Unless you want to end up like Impa here,”_ she’d said on that particular lazy afternoon by Lake Maridia. Impa had just growled at her, like a feral cat or something, and the two had started fussing and teasing each other. Zelda’s lips curled into a smile, “What a fond memory…”

Zelda stowed away a packet of bandages when her phone started violently ringing in her pocket. She nearly dropped the damn thing on the counter before checking her WhatsApp messenger. Peach had just sent her about three billion messages, every single one asking for her whereabouts and each sounding more and more desperate.  
The brunette felt a little guilty, remembering how she’d just left Peach on the field outside without so much as a word to where she was headed. She quickly typed a reply, hoping to ease her friend’s worries.

“ _relax, i’m fine. i’m at ms. balder’s office._ ” Peach promptly stopped her mental breakdown, “ _god, im so glad youre ok. i thought you got lost in that crowd full of burly guys and skimpy chicks._ ” Zelda couldn’t help but laugh at that message. Peach was usually dead-serious about cheerleading and football, but sometimes she found herself being able to make fun of it.  
“ _i’m sure you would have shouted something offensive to find me, had that been the case._ ” It took only a few moments for the quirky blonde to answer, “ _zelda, youre spending way too much time on that website._ ” Zelda pressed a hand to her mouth and broke out in wild laughter; she had actually discovered the phenomenon of “tumblr” due to Link.

“ _what are you doing there anyways? you said you were free today,_ ” Peach continued. Zelda had just placed her thumbs on the screen of her phone when she heard the door behind her open. She spun around and came face to face with Ms. Balder.  
She was wearing a pleased expression and when she spotted Zelda still lingering around, her smile widened, “Zelda, great to catch you here.” The brunette refrained from reminding her that she had been here for a while now.

Ms. Balder looked around the office and — upon finding that Zelda had already cleaned up the remaining utensils strewn about — patted her on the shoulder, “I talked to Mr. Lemming and we came to an agreement.” Zelda looked at her curiously, _Why would she tell me? Well, probably because she thinks she owes me for my help…_

“We agreed that you’d help Samus out for a couple of days.”

_…or maybe she just wants to saddle me with some charity work._ Zelda’s brain had some difficulties absorbing the information. Ms. Balder looked at her, a requesting glint in her gray eyes, and she mistook Zelda’s silence for declination, “It’ll be just for a few days, Zelda. Nothing too excessive.” She tilted her head, “And Samus would be glad to have you.”

_W-What? She actually said that…?_ her thoughts stuttered. Ms. Balder gave an encouraging smile, “I know this would be a great opportunity to get some real, independent work done. See it as a practical exercise. Falco would do it, but I figured Samus would feel more comfortable if she’d received the help from another girl instead. Also, you know I wouldn’t ask you if I thought you weren’t up for the task.”

Zelda bit her lip; Ms. Balder was a pro at convincing people. Not that she would have declined anyways, she just needed a few breaths to come to terms with the idea that _she, **Zelda,**_ would spend time with the school’s most famous student, Samus Aran.  
Before Ms. Balder could say anything else, Zelda nodded, effectively silencing her. “Alright then. Just… what exactly am I supposed to do?” The nurse shot her the biggest grin, squeezing her shoulder, “That’s great, Zelda! Thank you so much! Well, for starters…”

She moved past her and then shoved a crutch into her hands, “…she needs to understand that _this_ thing is necessary.” She threw Zelda a knowing wink before she continued, “Samus is your patient now. As her personal TA, you help her with daily things; making sure she doesn’t overdo what little training she can get in, checking her cast, handling an injury, and maybe assisting her with other small things.”  
Zelda nodded obediently, figuring that so far it didn’t sound too bad. Ms. Balder explained further, a frown on her face, “I understand Samus is a person who hates being still. Mr. Lemming told me she is fiercely independent and tries to make things work by herself.” She sighed, “I fear she might underestimate the situation and that can very quickly result in worse conditions.”

She went on, “Mr. Lemming and I both are concerned. We want to keep a close eye on her recovery and we think having you with her will help her condition tremendously while we won’t have to worry too much.” Zelda blushed slightly at the indirect compliment and Ms. Balder smiled gladly at her, knowing full well the girl caught her meaning.

They settled the conversation with some minor important things and Ms. Balder winked and gave Zelda a key to “the sanctuary” aka the office. She gave her full access to everything within, in case Samus needed immediate help while she herself wasn’t available.

Zelda felt flattered at the display of such trust and she closed her fingers around the keychain; not even Falco was allowed in here without supervision. The nurse idly chatted away after instructing her young padawan and then showed her out with a friendly thumbs up.

Zelda stood outside in the hallway, still a little dizzy from the sudden turn of events. Her phone buzzed once more in her pocket and she wrestled for a moment to get it out. It was from Peach, obviously, “ _zelda, u still there?_ ”  
The girl smiled, a rising anxiety fluttering in her stomach as she formulated her reply. She thought about how she wanted to break the news to her friend, but she eventually figured getting it straight out was better than beating around the brush.

“ _well. apparently i’m going to be samus’ personal TA for the time being._ ”

The reaction was — surprise, surprise — instantaneous, “ _pls tell me youre friggin joking!!!! zelda what does that meeeaaan :O_ ” Zelda chuckled and started walking towards the exit of the stadium, hands shaking a little, _I guess that’s a definite improvement from the “socially awkward” box people like to put me in._

She answered jokingly, “ _i knew joining the girl scouts was good for something,_ ” and put her phone away, ignoring all the ensuing fuss from Peach.

 

* * *

 

“Yo, Samus!” The blonde turned and spotted Anthony down the hallway, who was waving excitedly at her. He went over to her — saving her the struggle of making her way over to him, because _crutch_ — and smiled widely, “You look hot.”  
She grunted, “Impa nearly hit me with the thing this morning. Said I’d better use it or she would break my other leg.” Anthony laughed at that, having no problems imagining Impa doing exactly that. He pointed it out to her, earning himself a glare.

“Anyways, guess what! You know that Zelda girl? She’s one of Peach’s friends!” Samus frowned, “Really? I’ve never seen her at cheerleader practice though. She’s just a TA as far as I know.” Anthony nodded, “Yea, she is. Peach told me she’s a bit shy and you know how our girls are.” He smirked at her good-naturedly, “They really _aren’t_ exactly the shy type.”  
“No, not really,” Samus rolled her eyes. She glanced at him, “Why are you telling me this?” The dark-skinned boy shrugged, “Thought you might want to talk to Peach about her. Y’know, get to know her a little.”

Samus grimaced at his suggestion, “Why would I do that? I could just… _ask_ her things.” Anthony remained quiet for a while before bursting forward, “Okay, for real? I was just curious about this girl. Yesterday when you told me about her and the coach’s plan? It was a no-brainer for you. And, seriously Samus, you’re not really the type to warm up to people fast.”  
He raised his eyebrows, silently challenging her to deny his observation, but Samus only gave a sigh. She knew he was right, it was fruitless trying to convince him of the opposite. After all, Anthony had been her best friend for pretty much forever and knew her like no other.

He seemed to think the same thing, his pearly white teeth shining in a sly grin, “You know I’m right.” Samus scoffed, resolving to turn the tables a little, “So you’re curious about her, huh? Maybe _you_ should talk to her. You might find she likes you back, _charmer._ ”  
She drawled out the last sentence the way he oftentimes did and Anthony just crossed his fingers before his face, “No, no, no! That’s totally not what I— Dammit, Samus!” The blonde girl laughed at him and he bumped her shoulder in return, causing her to wobble on her feet.

They sauntered towards their respective classrooms, waving at each other before finally parting ways. Anthony texted her only a few moments later, “ _yo, hatchling. you should probs ask peach for her number. just in case you ‘break a leg’ or something._ ”  
He ended the text with a playful “ _:'D_ ” and even though Samus felt already annoyed at what that would probably entail, she figured it would be the safer option instead of actually asking Zelda herself. _Thinking back on the encounter in Ms. Balder’s office, the girl would most likely die of embarrassment if I asked her for her number — in front of **people,** no less._

That thought promptly put a grin on her face. Samus put her phone away without replying to Anthony and trudged to class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [A/N:] I wonder if my “referencing” got a little out of hand here… You’ll let me know if it did, right? Because I’m counting on you :-P


	5. Miscommunication

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [A/N:] I feel the need to refine Peach's character, but for now have some more hyperactive blonde on caffeine :-)

The boys' shouts echoed over the field as they ran and threw, tackled and positioned themselves anew. Samus was watching the scene from — big surprise here — the sidelines. She was sat on the bench directly by the field, nursing a lemon soda in the shade and observing her teammates accommodating without her.

Not far away, the cheerleaders were practicing their own moves. Samus looked over to them, spotting Peach in their midst, and waited for a chance to take Anthony's advice. _That bastard. Sometimes he's actually got decent ideas,_ she mused fondly.

As much as she had dreaded not being able to participate in the sport, watching her teammates play was giving her some satisfaction — they were a great team, and they would continue to be great. Her lips quirked in a proud smile.

As soon as practice was over, the two groups of young students gathered their things and made for the changing rooms. Samus got up from her seat and caught Peach's eye, waving her over. The cheerleader seemed surprised for a moment but it vanished in an instant.  
"Hi Peach," she started but quickly realized she wasn't sure how to put into words what she wanted to ask. To stall a bit, she drove her hand through her hair but then Peach took the initiative and saved her the trouble entirely, "Zelda told me she's your personal TA now. She mentioned something like this," Peach motioned towards Samus' leg in a cast, "and that you'd not play for a while. How are you, anyways? I didn't get to see for myself yesterday."

Samus nodded at her inquiry, knowing Peach was notorious for her snooping but ultimately meant well, "I'm fine, thanks. Speaking of Zelda… Think you could give me her phone number?" Peach's eyes bulged but the girl quickly caught herself again. She scratched her arm, "Y'know, I'm not normally one to give her phone number out to just anyone… Why do you need it?"

_Great, should have foreseen something like this._ Samus tried to sound reasonable, "Well, I figured if something happened, it would help to have her number and call her. I'm not used to having a brace, or a… crutch, and she _is_ supposed to assist me."  
Peach nodded at her explanation, seemingly convinced that Samus wouldn't do anything with Zelda's number. _Thank god she's so easy sometimes,_ Samus' mind drawled. Eventually, Peach motioned for Samus to brandish her phone and swiftly typed in the brunette's digits. Samus wasn't too surprised she actually knew them from memory.

Peach gave a smile, "Alright, there you go. I'll tell her you got her number now and—" Samus threw her hands up in what she hoped was a placating gesture, "That's okay! I'll just text her and let her know myself." Peach just shrugged, "Fine with me."

With that, Samus awkwardly excused herself and cleared out of the stadium. Anthony had gone his separate way, claiming he had somewhere else to be, so she was on her own. Her gaze fell on her leg and she grimaced.  
_Man…_ , she simply groaned internally. Eventually she walked the way back to her dorm, figuring she didn't exactly feel comfortable being at display to everyone out and about. The blonde girl was still in the process of getting used to the cast and people obviously found it odd to see her in such a thing — thus they tended to stare at her.

_Sure, they think they're inconspicuous, but they're really not._ With a little more effort than normally, Samus made it up the few stairs leading to the entrance of the dorm and entered her room. The football team had its own dorm; it was a tradition here in Zebes High and many other intern groups had adopted to that.  
So nowadays, the swim team had a small dormitory to their own — peacefully co-existing beside the drama dorm —, the cheerleaders were close to the football team, and the a capella and music departments were also situated right beside one another.

It had proven to be a popular concept; for both faculty and student body. The specific dormitories themselves weren't too big, but they were a nice way of separating those participating in the respective niches from the common student.  
Samus always saw it as some sort of refuge. And that refuge was exactly where she was headed now. She unlocked her room and stepped inside, dropping her bag from her shoulder and letting it slump against the wall.

The crutch promptly ended up on the floor as well — albeit near enough for her to grab it from her bed — and Samus threw herself onto the mattress. She sighed, closing her eyes and letting the soft afternoon sunlight filter in through the thin curtains of her window.

She felt the weight of her phone in her pocket.

Her eyes opened and flitted across the ceiling, and before she could talk herself out of it, she grabbed the small device and scrolled through her WhatsApp in search for Zelda's contact. She wasn't exactly hard to find; with _that_ name you ought to end up on the very bottom of a list.  
Samus tapped her icon and stared at the picture. It was a shot of Zelda herself on the left, a timid smile on her face, and a brightly grinning young boy with blonde hair on the right. She thought she had seen him before, but couldn't bet on it.

The quarterback frowned deeply and then flung her phone somewhere off to the side, hearing it land on the mattress with a dull thud. She threw an arm over her eyes, exhaling.

Samus chewed on the inside of her cheek.

 

* * *

 

Peach was babbling away happily. Happily, but it was still a strain on Zelda's nerves. Impa had pretty much shut down for the moment, impassively indulging in her packet of skittles. Zelda herself sat between her friends on a random bench on campus.  
They were idling away after classes, not decided yet where they wanted to hang out today. It was rare enough for Impa to actually join them, so the mood was cheerful (surprisingly enough) regardless of place.

"So he said I should just try it. I did. It didn't end well," Peach lamented. She was recounting a story from cheerleader practice in which she hurt herself and had ended up with a huge bruise on her thigh. Sure, it drew attention to her gorgeous legs, but it was a bruise nonetheless.

Zelda nodded sympathetically, patting her friend on the back a few times. The bruise had faded almost entirely by now and people had stopped eyeing it. Peach rested her head on Zelda's shoulder for a second, indulging in the petting, before she sat back up straight, winking.  
"Anyways, how's Link doing? I noticed you changed your profile pic." Impa snorted, though it wasn't quite clear if at Peach's inquiry or something else. Zelda gave a little smile, "He's fine, I guess. We…" the girl looked down into her lap and fumbled with the straw of her milkshake, "met up after school the other day. It was fun."

Peach threw her a knowing grin, big and cheesy, and she tackled the brunette from the side, squeezing her tightly, "Oooohh, I knew you two would be so cute together! Tell me you like him!" Zelda giggled at her friend's enthusiasm, which was purely contagious, and shrugged, "I don't know. He's nice."  
Peach wiggled her eyebrows and grabbed her hands, preventing Zelda from reaching for her phone which had just buzzed in her pocket, "' _Nice,_ ' my ass. You totally like him, just look at your blush right now!" She made a go for Zelda's cheeks, and the younger girl caught her hands, laughing. The blush was most definitely present and she felt it spreading to her ears.

"Don't be ridiculous! I'm only blushing because you're teasing me!" Peach hug-attacked her again, sending both of them crashing into Impa, who in turn just rolled her eyes and shoved back. Peach poked Zelda in the side, "Who's in denial here, huh?"

Zelda just shook her head, embarrassed, "I don't know what you're talking about." She distractedly pulled her phone out and threw a quick glance at who had texted her. It was a message in WhatsApp but the number it was from was unknown to her. She frowned at the display before tapping on the new contact.

A single, curt message stared back at her.

_hi, is this zelda's number?_

She bit her lip, ignoring Peach for a moment in favor of wrecking her head for a clue on who this person was. And how they'd gotten her number. She figured it couldn't be someone she didn't know. She gingerly began typing a message.

_yes it is. may i ask who you are?_

It took only a few seconds for her to get an answer.

_it's samus._

Zelda's heart stuttered dangerously in her chest and her eyes widened as her brain tried to wrap itself around the information, _What…?_ Peach was forgotten in an instant, but the blonde cheerleader apparently didn't even notice because she was idly chatting away anyways. Impa to her left though, threw her a quizzical glance.  
Zelda ignored it — mostly because she simply wasn't capable of registering it in the first place — and stared at the screen. _Samus… just texted me? How'd she get my number? And why would she text me?_

Zelda licked her lips before formulating a reply, her mind whirring, but Samus beat her to the punch.

_sorry, i know this is a surprise for you. peach gave me your number._

Zelda blinked at the information; of course Peach would have given Samus her phone number. Why was she even surprised? She dismissed it; not knowing that a certain quarterback had deliberately foregone telling her that she had _asked_ Peach for the number.  
The brunette didn't dwell on it. Instead, she tried to calm her breathing and come up with an adequate answer to placate Samus and rid her of her worries.

_oh, it's not a problem! i was just wondering who this might be. peach_ — she stopped short of typing out how Peach usually didn't care about giving away digits of her friends, but figured it made Peach sound like a bad friend. She deleted it.

_oh, it's not a problem! i was just wondering who this might be. i didn't expect it to be anyone else but maybe link who reset his phone again and forgot to make backups with names… i certainly didn't expect this to be you._

Zelda saw that Samus was on her phone, her status showing her to be "online." It didn't take long for her to write back.

_well_ _**that** _ _sounds chaotic._

Zelda smirked and imagined Samus frowning deeply at the information. An image of Link appeared before her inner eye; all bubbly and random and nervous and messy. She couldn't deny he had his charm. She thumbed her phone.

_yea being chaotic? he does that sometimes._

_is he your boyfriend?_

Zelda stopped. She didn't know what it was that made her pause, but the pounding of her heart suddenly stilled. Her mind blanked for a moment and then it was filled with thoughts of Peach cooing over the two of them, assuring Zelda they would look so good together.

She couldn't type the answer quickly enough.

_no he isn't._

The seconds ticked by as Zelda stared at her phone, waiting with bated breath.

_i see._

Zelda read the message a few more times, trying to decipher a meaning behind it, but the reply was so neutral that she found it hard to. Not knowing what to write, her thumbs hovered over her keyboard.

_well i just wanted to ask you if it's okay for me to have your number. in case i'll need you or something._

The brunette nearly fell over herself to answer. The thought alone that she could help Samus in a situation where practically no one else could was shooting a giddiness through her veins.

_it's fine, really! so, do you need my help right now?_

_not right now, no. i'm in my room anyways._

Zelda frowned as she glanced at the tiny digital clock in the top corner of her phone. It was in the middle of the afternoon, why would Samus be in her room at this time of day? She chewed on the inside of her cheek, standing up.

_are you sure? it's not because of the cast, is it?_

Zelda could very well imagine Samus pouting right now, feeling caught. She wasn't too far off with that prediction and the quarterback's answer was a bit too quick to not be suspicious.

_nah. just had a long day._

Zelda turned to her friends who were staring at her by now. Peach quirked an eyebrow, "Are you alright, Zelda? You haven't been listening to a word I just said!" Impa remained silent, but there appeared a spark in her eyes. Zelda willed a blush from her cheeks.  
"Sorry, Peach. Something came up and I…" she tried, gesturing into the general direction of the school building. Impa crossed her arms, "You smiled and blushed an awful lot just there."

Peach's eyes widened and her golden locks bounced when she snapped her head back and forth between her two friends, "Wait. That on the phone… That was Link, wasn't it?!" She squealed, thinking Zelda had been texting with none other than the blonde boy they had just talked about. Impa rolled her eyes, "Guess this is it for today. See you around, Zelda."

The older girl grabbed Peach by the strap of her bag over her shoulder and dragged her off, mercifully relieving Zelda of the inquisitive cheerleader. Zelda threw an apologetic wave after them but didn't dwell for longer on it, her thoughts already back with Samus Aran. She turned and made her way to the dorm of the football team, thinking.

_I'm pretty sure her cast is unnerving her. She didn't want the crutch, which I totally get, but I didn't think it would annoy her so much. I should check up on her._ The brunette glanced backwards with a fond smile, still vividly seeing Peach throwing a fit before her mental eye, _Thank god Impa knows when to step in._

She figured showing up empty handed wouldn't be the best move; after all Samus actually didn't want to see her right now. So Zelda steered towards the small kiosk the campus owned, an idea forming in her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [A/N:] Things are getting into motion slowly. Tell me what you guys would prefer; a pairing with Link or a pairing with Samus? (not that it'd change my own opinion on the matter, huehuehue :-P)


	6. Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [A/N:] Ugh, dialogues can be hard to write :-(

After a few minutes, Zelda reached the football team's dorm. The brick building was the same red hue like all the others and Zelda thought she couldn't have told the difference if the banner hanging above the door had been absent.

She carefully made her way to said door and found it unlocked. For a second she just stared at the handle in her hand, then scolded herself, _Please. Just because it's the football team's sanctuary doesn't mean it's only accessible if you're one of them._  
She made sure there was no one around to witness her sudden halt and then slipped inside. At the wall to her left hung the typical map of the interior; with all rooms and the names of the respective inhabitants. After briefly stopping to find Samus' room (it was the one to the right, at the very end) she cautiously made her way there.

Her heart started pounding louder and louder with each step and once more, Zelda wondered why she was feeling so anxious. It was a silly notion, being so nervous because of the thought of seeing someone else. She'd never felt this level of stress before — not even with Link's friend Ganondorf with whom things could get from comfortable to awkward in about a millisecond.

Zelda hurried over to the door. By the time she got there, her throat was clutch with anxiety. She steeled herself, _Come on, Zelda, this isn't the one million dollar question, this is just making sure Samus is fine,_ and softly rasped her knuckles on the wood.

There was silence, then some quiet shuffling from the other side of the door, before it opened. Zelda straightened unconsciously, and her good faith left her when confronted once again with the bluest eyes she had ever seen.  
Samus looked back surprised, her hand still gripping the door. She cocked her head, "Zelda?" There was a beat and then the corners of her mouth dropped low, and the brunette in question felt a hollow in her stomach.

"What are you doing here?" She sounded annoyed, and Zelda swallowed two mouthfuls of air before she felt ready to respond. But instead of simply doing so — she was so afraid her voice would betray her — she just gulped like a fish a few times. _Embarrassing, really._

The silence stretched on and Zelda, in a desperate attempt to banish it, reached inside her bag. She pulled out what turned out to be a packet of freeze pops, shoving it into Samus' hands, "I got you something by the way!"  
The other girl received the packet and her fingers instantly grew cold. She looked up at Zelda, her blue gaze somewhat expectantly, "You bought me a pack of freezies…?"

Zelda couldn't meet her eyes and she wrenched her fingers behind her back, shrugging before she finally found her courage, "Well, you didn't seem to want to talk to me, so I'd actually hoped I could, like, _bribe_ you with this. A-Also, it's good to cool a swelling or something…!"

When she looked up, she was met with the sight of a stunned blonde girl. Another second ticked by and Zelda was ready to just turn around and leave, the disappointment was starting to seep in, but then she saw it.  
The slight crinkle around Samus' eyes, the way her lips didn't _exactly_ curl upwards, and Zelda was finding herself staring at what was essentially a smiling Samus Aran. The quarterback gave an amused exhale through her nose and stepped aside, "You happen to be in luck. Freezies are secretly my weakness."

Zelda grinned brighter than the sun and her shoulders rose and Samus motioned for her to come inside and everything was good again. She cautiously stepped into the room that was commonly known as "Samus' Room" and the realization that she was allowed inside was hitting her thoroughly. She looked around, trying to appear attentive but not snooping.  
Samus' room was actually not much different form everyone else's rooms; she had a single bed on the wall beneath the window, a desk with a chair to the one side, and a small couch with a low table to the other side. There were posters and photos on the walls and the wardrobe, with personal things in-between school stuff.

All in all, it was rather cozy. A bit _crammed,_ but cozy. Her eyes absorbed everything they could and while she felt overwhelmed with curiosity, Zelda gave it her best not to appear nosy.

She turned to Samus and straightened, "So… Do you _have_ a swelling?" Samus just crossed her arms over her chest and continued to look at the brunette amused, "No. I wasn't lying about being fine, you know." Zelda cleared her throat and averted her gaze, feeling a little lightheaded, "Right. Sorry. I didn't mean to imply…"  
Samus shrugged and plopped down on her bed, gesturing for Zelda to take a seat. The motion was actually broad enough to encircle the entirety of the room so the girl wasn't exactly sure where to sit. After a bit of shuffling on the floor, she opted for the sofa to the northern wall. It seemed like the polite choice; not as personal as sitting on Samus' bed, but not as distant as deciding to stand instead of sitting at all.

Samus shrugged it off and ripped the box open. Her hand hovered for a moment and Zelda narrowed her eyes, watching. Eventually, the blonde settled on watermelon. Zelda opted to save that information, for whatever reason.  
Samus pushed the small box in her direction, a pointed look signaling for her to take one as well. Zelda couldn't suppress a grin and she snatched herself a cherry flavor. Samus stretched over to her desk and grabbed a pair of scissors.

She cut open her freezie and flicked the end of the plastic case into the small bin beneath the desk. Zelda was ready to accept the scissors from Samus, but the quarterback just motioned for her to pass her the freezie. Zelda complied, feeling the brush of Samus' cold fingers, and settled back until Samus was done.  
They fell into a comfortable silence and the brunette was surprised at how easy it all felt. She stole a few glances over at the other girl. Samus had reclined back on the bed, mindful of her cast.

For a while, only a wet smacking sound accompanied the quiet brush of fabric on plush surface. Zelda indulged in discreetly looking around the room, spotting a furry plush toy on a shelf above the desk. It was a fat, round thing with shaggy white fur and a pink tongue hanging out its mouth. Two tiny ram horns were spiraling backwards. The black, beady eyes seemed to crinkle with warmth and mischief.

The sight of it made her smile in a lopsided grin — as did the thought that Samus owned a cute plush toy. _I mean who would have thought? The tough, cool quarterback and her stuffed animal?_ She giggled.  
"What's so funny?" Her eyes followed Zelda's gaze and landed on the plushie on her shelf. She made an "ah" sound, "That's Milo." The brunette looked at her quizzically, "Milo?" Samus just nodded, humming in agreement.

"I've had him… since forever. Won him at a booth on a fair a couple years ago." Zelda noticed the fond smile on Samus' face, the sight intriguing her immensely. She didn't have to ask though when Samus explained further, "Anthony had challenged me to a game of dart." She threw Zelda a serious expression, "I _had_ to play," which made her laugh.

Samus then motioned towards the round dartboard on her wall, "His loss that my uncle and I had been playing dart since my early childhood. I was always better than Anthony." She grinned, clearly pleased with herself, and Zelda found it to be extremely charming.  
"So naturally, I won. And Milo here was what I got back then." Zelda nodded a few times, eagerly absorbing the freely given personal information, "I see. Note to self: Do not challenge Samus to a game of dart."

Samus chuckled and then looked at her, "How do you know Peach anyways? I've never seen you two around campus together." Zelda smiled crookedly, balling a first with her right hand to try and steer away the cold from the freeze pop, "We've known each other since we were little girls. Our parents are friends, we live in the same neighborhood."  
Samus seemed to ponder this information. It didn't help that she seemed to be staring at Zelda while doing so, and the brunette felt her ears warming. She averted her gaze and heard more than saw Samus shuffling on the bed, "You're not very much alike."

She looked up, seeing the quarterback still looking at her. Samus continued, "Peach is… pretty _vocal._ " She underlined that specific word — making it sound as neutral as possible — and Zelda couldn't help a small smile from emerging.  
Samus drove a hand through her tresses, smothering her own grin, "You're different. Quieter." Zelda made a noncommittal sound, uncertain of how this was meant. _Thanks, I know I'm quiet and awkward. No need to remind me._

But a second later she scolded herself for once again being so insecure, because Samus explained herself, "She's nice, but Peach can be a bit much at times." It was a subtle thing, the compliment, but it was there and Zelda heard it all the same in every word Samus _didn't_ say.  
She felt the blush start to spread to her cheeks and she was thankful to hide behind the freezie. She didn't even notice the curious look Samus was giving her.

_Wow. Did she just say she likes my company? As in, she's not weirded out by my obvious and also non-existent social skills?_ Zelda figured now would be a good time to repay Samus in kind, "You're not so bad yourself." She shrugged and threw a very pointed look to the crutch still lying on the floor, then cheekily added, "When you're not being stubborn."

This time around, Samus actually laughed. It was a rather deep, husky sound and it made Zelda's insides tingle with joy. She shook her head and looked up, eyes wrinkling in a sly grin, "Usually I'm pretty cool; you just make it really easy to be difficult. _And fun._ "  
Zelda felt incredibly bold at the teasing, never having guessed that Samus would be so willing to expose herself to conversation with her, "Hah, so you're saying you enjoy tormenting me?"

Samus' eyes wrinkled in that special way as she shrugged, "Maybe a little."

That single response sparked a brilliant smile. The brunette felt her stomach tingle pleasantly, _Wow. The way we talk right now? We sound like we have known each other for ages._ They held the eye contact for a bit longer — looking at one another as if they shared a secret — and Zelda took a shaky breath. She was positive her face was red.

"So, how come I've never noticed you around campus?" Zelda thought about the question and concluded the answer was obvious. "Probably because you spend so much time in the stadium. And I…" she shrugged, "I'm good at _math._ " Samus broke out in a grin, "Are you calling me dumb?" Realizing her mistake, the brunette sat ramrod straight, "T-That's not what I meant!"

Samus tilted her head to the side and laughed, the motion making her ponytail sway, and Zelda only blushed more furiously. _Is she seriously implying that she would have liked to make my acquaintance sooner? Or am I just being silly again?_  
She resolved to try and divert the attention away from her coyness and tried answering again, "I don't know, to be honest. I'm usually just Peach's tagalong. I… tend to get lost in the shuffle. But really, I don't spend so much time around the stadium like Peach does."

"Hm." Zelda watched her eyes narrow slightly, as if she was processing that conclusion. They had both reached the end of their freeze pops and Samus was generously offering another one. Zelda just nodded, not specifying which flavor she preferred, so Samus picked one for each of them.  
She continued her thought, eyeing Zelda up from head to toe, "I'm not surprised. You're too skinny to be sportsman. No muscles at all, I bet you'd fall over in the slightest breeze." Zelda received the freezie with her jaw a bit slack from the mild insult but the wrinkle around Samus' eyes told her she was joking again.

Zelda was grateful for the ease with which their conversation was flowing so naturally. She was aiming to quip an equally teasing remark, "Well of course not. I'm not so…" Zelda gestured at Samus' overall appearance, trying to find something to latch on to, but finding — and blushing again — that the blonde was actually utterly perfect.  
Tall and lean, Samus towered over the average girl. Her skin was smooth and just a little tan; most likely from spending so much time outside on the field. Zelda's eyes trailed up her arms and stomach, imagining nothing but firm muscles beneath the fabric of her shirt.

_Jesus, Zelda. Get a grip maybe?_ she scolded herself; why she would even think about whatever was hidden by the quarterback's clothing was beyond her. However, the silence stretched on and Zelda figured she was supposed to finish that thought. She lamely trailed off, "…fit like you."

Samus, bless her, didn't seem to notice the stutter in the other girl. She laid back with her freezie, "So you have other vices?" Zelda shrugged, "I— Well, as I as said I'm a pro at math but that's about it, really."  
Samus nodded, a smile in her eyes, "I bet you're a total card shark." _Huh. Why does everyone think that when I tell them I'm good at crunching numbers?_ She opted not to say anything, and waited for Samus to go on. The blonde didn't disappoint, taking Zelda's silence for confirmation, "Remind me to pass up any opportunities to witness your awesome card counting skills firsthand."

This time, it was Zelda's turn to laugh, "I haven't used those in ages. I'm probably a little rusty." She thought back on all the times she had expertly depleted Peach and Impa's piggybanks on those lazy afternoons in summer when they were all younger. Her grandfather had shown her how to count; she still missed him sometimes.  
The footballer hummed thoughtfully, "I'm not so sure." Zelda's lungs caught slightly when she looked back up into those blue, blue eyes. She exhaled in a breathy laugh, "Don't worry, I don't use them on my friends."

There was a short silence, a pregnant pause, but when Samus replied after a while, it was earnest.

" _Friends._ I'd like that."

And Zelda swore she felt the kick to the backs of her knees from the confession. She was glad she wasn't standing so she succeeded in not making a fool out of herself. That surreal moment passed and both girls seemed affirmed as they enjoyed the cold freezies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [A/N:] How's that for a change? Nothing exciting happens, just some quality bonding time :-D Also: Poro plushies are the best :-D


End file.
